India, Bangladesh very important partner of US, says Hilary Clinton

DHAKA: Describing India and Bangladesh as very important partner of the US, Secretary of StateHilary Clinton said America wants to see the two nations as leaders in many fronts in the international arena.

Clinton, who arrived here today on the second leg of her tri-nation South Asia tour which will also take her to India, asked Bangladesh to pull out of a spiral of political turmoil through dialogues.

"I would not be the (US) secretary of States next year but I want to see our partnership with Bangladesh and India, two important countries to US, to develop and flourish...we want to see them as leaders in many fronts," Clinton told reporters after a meeting with her Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni at the Prime Minister's office.

"Personally I want to see Bangladesh's success because this is the country which I have been following for the last 17 years," Clinton said.

Asked what the US want from Bangladesh, Clinton said, "We do not seek anything else other than promoting democracy and development in Bangladesh".

"I know it is not easy to establish rule of law and ensure transparency but I am indeed happy that Bangladesh has not given up its efforts when many countries have given up.... Bangladesh is still struggling," she said.

Talking on apparently growing political tensions in Bangladesh, Clinton asked all parties to deal with the problems through talks saying there could be dialogues and parliamentary debates between political parties to resolve the existing problems.

"I urge all political actors to work together to promote democracy...Democracy must have to sustain in Bangladesh," Clinton said.

The rivalry between the opposition and the government widened in the past two weeks with political violence claiming five lives over the mysterious disappearance of a BNP leader.

The opposition fears that he was a victim of "forced disappearance" by intelligence agencies while the government indicated that the opposition itself might have a hand behind his disappearance.